SRC

Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN) has been involved in the development of space penetrators since 1997. The Institute has a lot of experience in developing hammering penetrators, including the flight models of MUPUS for ESA Rosetta mission and CHOMIK for the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission.

Currently Space Mechatronics and Robotics Laboratory is developing an entirely new penetrator called HEEP (High Energy and Efficiency Penetrator), which is several times stronger than any previously developed electromagnetic penetrator.

Space agencies and companies work on the program of sending into the orbit autonomous servicing satellites, which could repair damaged commercial satellites. In October 2011 Space Mechatronics and Robotics Laboratory started the project "Design and construction of a prototype of the manipulator as a key component of the satellite orbit servicing system" implemented under the LEADER II program of National Centre for Research and Development. LEMUR, the name of the project was chosen by voting of the project team members.

“The bright ideas of scientists have to be matched by the creativity of engineers and very high management standards”

The Space Research Centre is an interdisciplinary research institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, established to conduct scientific research and activities in order to develop the space industry in Poland.

Our mission is the development and dissemination of space activities, which might help our country in achieving the image of the state actively involved in space research at world level and the creation of satellite technologies.

1977 - 1 February: the Space Research Centre officially begins its activity. The scientific staff is a combination of small research groups from the Institute of Geophysics, the Astronomical Observatory of Warsaw University, the Warsaw University of Technology and the Institute of Mathematical Machines. The Centre also includes the Astronomical Observatory in Borowiec (now the Astrogeodynamic Observatory) near Poznań and the Wrocław Heliophysics Labolatory of the PAS Institute of Astronomy (now the Solar Physics Division.)

Our research

our research

Interstellar neutral atoms of helium from the local interstellar medium are observed by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft in the Earth orbit. Researchers from CBK PAN, together with international collaborators, analyze these observations to determine the Sun’s motion with respect to the local interstellar medium and the temperature of this medium. In a broader perspective, results of these analyses provide important insight into mechanisms of interaction of the heliosphere with its surroundings. In a paper recently published in The Astrophysical Journal they analyzed data from two energy channels of the IBEX-Lo detector previously not used, in addition to the data from the channel used beforehand, and obtained a better assessment of these quantities.

Lyman-alpha line is one of the most prominent features in the UV part of the solar spectrum. It allows us to estimate the magnitude of radiation pressure, which is a force that photons from the Sun exert on hydrogen atoms. Radiation pressure is, next to the gravitational force, the main factor that determines the trajectories of neutral hydrogen and deuterium atoms inside the heliosphere.

Turbulence is a complex phenomenon with driving mechanisms still not clearly understood in contemporary science. Turbulence naturally appears in astrophysical plasmas, including the solar wind at planetary and interstellar shocks. The shocks in astrophysical plasmas are usually collisionless due to a very low density of the medium and therefore they differ from those observed in ordinary fluids, because they often result from interaction of nonlinear structures.

Sample return space missions are one of the possible options to extend our knowledge about extra-terrestrial materials, processes occurring on surface and subsurface level, as well as interactions between regolith and technology. Collection of surface or subsurface material from such bodies is a key technical process that needs to be performed to achieve the goals of such missions. Although in terrestrial environment the sampling process is relatively easy, smart solutions are needed for zero gravity, unknown and remotely accessible space environment.